“And suppose the marriage comes off?”
“That marriage will be celebrated in the he-goat’s bog; the best man and match maker—the hatchet and block!”
“Fool! Fool! He is running blindfold to destruction.”
“The young ox is on the brink of the precipice.”
“He won’t keep his head on long!”
“No! He may be pardoned. He is the Tsar’s own son, not a stranger. Even the serpent does not devour her young. First a severe lesson, and then pardon.”
“It is too late to teach, he is no longer a child and adults don’t change.”
“They should have taught him while he was tall as a bench is wide; but now that he covers the whole length of it, it is too late!”
“Come into my mortar, and I’ll bray thee with my pestle, sweetheart! that will be his lesson!”